


forever when We walk

by Oaklin



Series: Forever Everything [44]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Bad Friendship, Beef is so fucking done with everyone's shit, Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Swearing, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, obligatory Kevin Steen warning, poor attempts at good friendship, poor baby, stealth angst, stealth romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 04:53:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10564014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oaklin/pseuds/Oaklin
Summary: It is overwhelming to him.How much it hurts.Then, now, and forever.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!
> 
> Hot mess coming through. I didn't think I was gonna get this edited today, as my allergies are in the process of trying to kill me. That being said, here we are. And boy, is this one fussy.
> 
> To be fair, it is a lot less melodramatic than the last few. And they seem to be back to taking turns maybe? I was going to try and realign them, figure up who gets to go next based on who took up the limelight the least, but eh. I'll just let them do their thing. Less hassle for me that way.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Man, that idiot dropped so much cash on me, and all I had to do was get nearly murdered by your boyfriend to get it.”

Sami rolls his eyes, flopping the dish towel over his shoulder as he turns, setting the chipped plate down in the dish drain as he shifts.

“That is not really something you should be happy about, Beef. Actually, the fact that you are so happy about it makes me very concerned.”

Beef waves him off dismissively, flicking trough the stack of twenty dollar bills in his hands.

“Oh, save it Sam-ster. I just got _way_ more money than I was expecting, for a job that I wasn’t supposed to have.”

Beef screws his face up, drawing up short on his way to his room, presumably where he was going to rolls around in the cash before they had to fork it over to the landlady.

“Actually, it was way easier to get the match than I thought it would be. All I had to do was ask G. Did you talk to Kevin or something?”

-not exactly-

Sami drops his eyes, scuffing a bare foot against the peeling linoleum, pulling the dish rag off his shoulder and slapping it down on the counter, worrying his lip as he tries **not** to contemplate the last few days.

“...no,” Sami finally says, speaking into the somewhat stilted silence of the kitchen, his voice stronger than he would have guessed.

Beef stops dead and looks back at Sami, concern and confusion creasing his brow.

“Hey, no, don’t do _that_. You’ve seemed happier since- whatever the fuck that was in the ring with Steen,” Beef makes another face, this one harder to place, before shooting a worried look Sami’s way, “I thought you two had worked out- whatever the fuck that was going on between the two of you. Did something else happen?”

-that is a hell of a question-

Sami reaches up, rubbing a nervous thumb over his trembling lip, before sighing and dropping his hand. Straightening up, he glances over the chipped counter tops, wishing that they owned more dishes for him to wash.

Halfway through contemplating cooking a second dinner, just to give himself something to do, Sami glances over at Beef and gives what he knows for a _fact_ is **not** a nonchalant shrug.

“Sort of? I seem to be permanently in the dog-house with Kevin these days. I’m not really upset with him anymore, if that answers your question.”

Beef turns fully toward him, looking even more puzzled than before.

“Wait so- okay, I figured that something had happened before Wrestlefest, but-” Beef makes a frustrated sound in the back of his throat, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose, “It fucking figures that that **_bullshit_ ** at the show would be some kind of weird-ass mating dance. Fuck, you two are the most deranged jackasses on the planet. I don’t know how you manage to be worse that AJ and Chris.”

Sami blinks, confused, as he pulls down some old dishes Beef got from his parents. Sami doesn’t remember if they washed them when Beef brought them home.

Another scrub couldn’t hurt, could it?

“I mean, I wasn’t really _that_ upset with him in the first place, if that helps at all. He just... _**hurt my feelings**_ , that's all,” Sami explains, trying to satisfy Beef curiosity without giving him anything to annoy Kevin with.

-Which Beef would totally do-

“Hurt your-!”

Sami squawks as Beef tosses the money down on the table, reaching out and aggressively slamming a palm down on the rickety dining chair. Beef cups his face in his other hand, rubbing his palm over his eyes and letting out a strangled noise of distress.

“Fucking- of fucking _course_. Goddamn it. Hurt your feelings. **Right**. You are the **_worst_** , you know that?”

“Uh, sorry?”

“Don’t apologize!”

“...”

Beef lets out a long, loud sigh, dropping his hands and stomping over, wrapping Sami up in a bear hug that almost makes Sami drop the dishes he is holding. Placing the cup in his hands gingerly into the sink, Sami hugs back belatedly, going over the last few minutes in his mind and trying to figure out what upset Beef so much.

“Listen. Don’t let people treat you like that, okay?” Beef says earnestly, pulling back and planting his hands firmly on Sami’s shoulders, his eyes full of concern.

Sami blinks, still unsure of what is actually happening, “Okay? Beef are you alright?”

Beef lets out a harsh laugh at that, releasing Sami’s shoulders to run a hand through his short hair.

“I’d be a lot better if you fuckers and your goddamn pent up, denial ridden, relationship angst would get your shit together already.”

“All of my relationships are fine...?” Sami screws up his face, trying to call to mind what could possibly have made Beef think that Sami is in any kind of relationship related stress at the moment.

It occurs to him belatedly, of course.

-Finally-

Sami shoots Beef an apologetic look, feeling the rumblings of guilt rise in his chest.

“Oh, you're talking about us, aren’t you? What did I do? Are you upset with me about something I said, or did I forget your birthday again? I swear I marked it on my calendar this time so hopefully that wouldn’t happen again.”

Fear wells up in Sami’s heart as he rambles, getting more and more panicked sounding, although he can’t seem to make himself shut up.

“Is there something I can do? Are we not good? How do I make us good again-?”

-fucking-

-seriously?-

What?

-...never mind-

-dumbass-

The self deprecating voice in his head sounds like Kevin, for a brief moment that makes Sami’s chest ache with longing so powerful that it almost makes him forget what he is doing.

Still. At least he figured out why Beef is upset.

Finally.

-no-

-no, we didn't-

Did to!

Sami opens his mouth, swinging around, ready to right whatever wrongs he did to his dear friend, only to stop short at the look on Beef’s face.

It is hard to place what exactly Beef’s facial muscles are trying to convey, but it is definitely more to the ‘annoyed’ end of the spectrum.

Sami wilts a little, closing his mouth and shrinking a bit, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt and looking at the floor.

He had been so happy about about figuring out Beef’s weird, obtuse ranting that he had kind of forgotten that Beef was upset with him.

Sami opens his mouth again, this time to apologize, but shuts up when Beef holds up a placating hand, looking somehow more exasperated with Sami than he had just moments before.

“That has nothing to do with anything, Sami."

Confusion takes hold again and Sami blinks uncomprehendingly for a heartbeat as Beef stands there, patiently waiting for him to catch up.

-He means we were wrong-

Ah.

Oops?

Sami wilts even more in disappointment.

-Thought we had it all figured it out-

“We are fantastic, Sami. But if you honestly think that the bullshit that went on over this last weekend was you and Kevin being ‘fine’, then the relationship that the two of you have is even more disturbing than I thought.”

Sami turns back to the sink, waving Beef off.

“It’s fine. I just overheard some things that I wasn’t meant to hear, and got upset with him. Of course, instead of talking about it with him, I ignored him like a child and he got upset-”

“Sami, for christs sake. I don’t care what he said. Whatever arguments you two had couldn’t possibly have justified- whatever the fuck _that_ shit was. It was completely uncalled for and-” Beef stops abruptly, throwing his hands in the air and making another exasperated noise, “You know what, whatever. As long as you two are both into it, it’s fine I guess?”

Sami nods, drying a plate with fade cats adorning the edges, “Yeah, we made up.”

“That wasn’t really what I was asking- Again, never mind. Why do I even try. I’m not explaining this to you. I don’t have nearly enough alcohol in me for this conversation.”

Beef spins around, letting out a loud huff of exasperation. He swipes his hand across the table and Sami almost lets it go, but his better judgment wins out. Throwing away his lingering confusion about what exactly Beef is mad-

-I mean really, he could be a little more specific-

Sami already said that he and Kevin are good-ish now.

Why is Beef freaking out?

-at him about, Sami steps in front of his friend, before the other man can storm out of the kitchen.

Sami reaches out, snatching the wad of money out of Beef’s hands, just as the other man had swiped it back up off the table and was making to put it in his pocket.

“No Beef. Rent first. Drinking second.”

Beef throws his hands up and then crosses his arms, pouting dramatically.

“It’s my goddamn money you bitch,” Beef mutters lowly, even as he stands there and lets Sami peel crumpled twenty dollar bills off the wad.

Sami nods, walking over to the cabinet and sending a text to their landlady, shoving Beef’s half of the rent money in his pants as he moves.

“True. You worked hard for it-” Sami deliberately ignores the derisive snort he gets in response to that, swiftly sending the text and then shutting off his phone so he isn’t tempted to listen to all the angry voice mails that are **not** from their irate landlady, “-and I’m not going to let you waste it all on booze.”

“Only most of it,” Sami adds, tossing the rest of the cash at Beef, who lights up almost immediately, snatching it out of the air with a squeal of delight.

“Fuck yeah, you wanna come with?” Beef chirps enthusiastically, beaming at Sami like a kid on Christmas morning.

Which is a really, really inappropriate metaphor to use in this particular situation, given the subject matter.

-True-

“No thanks, Beef. I need to get to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

Beef’s eyes go dark and concerned again briefly, and Sami feels a spike of worry.

What now?

What happened?

What did I do?

Before he has a chance to ask however, the moment is over and Beef is smiling brightly again, clapping Sami on the shoulder with enough enthusiasm to rock him forward.

“Sure, sure, you damn old man. I swear, you are like ninety years old.”

Sami returns Beef’s grin, rolling his eyes and shoving the oaf towards the door to their tiny apartment.

“Yes. Old men need their rest. Go play with your little drunk friends, and don’t do anything too regrettable, okay?”

Beef snickers, swaggering over to the door and slapping his palm down on the knob, waving over his shoulder as he pulls the door open.

“Sure thing mom-”

Ah.

Beef backs a few steps away from the door before stopping dead still. He looks over his shoulder at Sami, who can’t bring himself to tear his eyes away from the figure in the doorway. Sami vaguely hears Beef make an odd, strangled noise, before he is shifting.

Sami blinks, feeling like he has been shaken from a trance. He leans forward, pressing both palms into the counter and straining to look around Beef, who is now partially blocking his view.

 **Move**.

- _Easy_ -

“Kevin? Are you alright?” Sami asks tentatively, his skin tingling in a distantly warm, pleasant way when those dark eyes shift from glaring daggers at Beef to staring holes in Sami’s soul.

Sami could stand here forever, if he is honest.

-Careful-

No.

Kevin doesn’t reply, just stares at Sami for another long, breathless moment that may or may not have lasted a lifetime, before returning his gaze to Beef. Dark eyes go from something akin to volcanic heat-

(That always makes Sami’s skin feel several sizes too small.)

(For some reason.)

-to their usual scathing disdain. Beef puffs up a bit under the scrutiny and Sami bites back a loud string of curses at the two of them starting their shit again.

“Can you two not, please? Beef, you were just about to go, so why don’t you scoot your way down to whatever bar you planned on hoping around in-”

Beef’s posture relaxes suddenly, a sly grin creeping onto his face. He side-eyes Sami, wigging his eyebrows in a completely ridiculous manner.

“Want me to vacate the premises, huh? Alright then, you kids have fun. Don’t forget the lube, and leave a sock on the door, in case you get carried away-”

Beef cuts himself off, turning to raise an eyebrow at Kevin.

“...you know what, I’ll just come back in the morning, how about that?”

Wait.

(!)

The counter is solid and somewhat safe beneath Sami’s hands, but he can feel the whirlwind of vague, uncomfortable panic burbling to the surface regardless. He takes a deep breath, resisting the urge to blurt out the first thing that pops into his head.

“That is **not** \- Just go away Beef! You are such a jerk-”

“I didn’t come here to listen to you two idiots flirt with each other,” Kevin rumbles, the tiredness in his voice making Sami concerned. Sami stops berating Beef, all of his attention shifting to Kevin, as the other man stalks toward him, shouldering past Beef as he moves.

Kevin tosses something down on the table, before giving Sami another heated look, which Sami honestly can’t distinguish from an angry glare. It doesn't **feel** angry, but Sami has no tangible reason to think so other than his gut reaction to the look.

Which he would rather not think about to hard.

It is certainly-

-Something-

“See you losers later.”

Sami can’t help rolling his eyes, even as he pries his sweaty hands up off the counter.

Always with the freaking melodramatic exits.

Sami reaches forward, eyes widening when he realizes what Kevin threw on the table.

“Hey! How did you get my cash back from Daniels?” Beef asks, hurrying over and snatching the folded currency out of Sami’s fingers.

Kevin pauses in the middle of the room, something about his presence seemingly _too much_ for the tiny space. His frame suddenly seems like it takes up almost all of the area inside the apartment, leaving little room for Sami to rest.

Or **breath**.

- ** _always_** -

-it is **_always_ ** this way-

-if ever there was a man who embodied ‘larger than life'-

Sami can’t help the breathless little sigh that escapes his mouth, too distracted trying to fight the urge to go wrap himself around Kevin and at least _attempt_ to prevent him from leaving.

Stay.

Please?

(Not that Sami can make Kevin do anything.)

Kevin turns, shooting Sami a strange look, before inhaling roughly and focusing his attention back on the doorway as he starts slowly stomping toward it.

“I asked. How the fuck do you **_think_ ** I got it back?”

Beef’s gaze goes from amazed to wary. He slowly drops the money back on the counter, looking up to scrutinize Kevin’s retreating back.

“Wait. That doesn’t make any fucking sense, unless it wasn’t _actually_ -”

“I’ll give you a ride to the next show.”

Sami jerks his head up, completely forgetting about the money. He knows he should focus on the conversation at hand, but even whatever is going on between Kevin, Daniels, and Beef fails to interest Sami in this moment. He gets lost looking at Kevin, forgetting what they had just been talking about and a anything else other than the odd, almost soft look in Kevin’s eyes.

Sami is halfway around the corner before he even realizes he has moved.

“Unless you want to go with this moron,” Kevin adds, though none of the bite is there, even though he is clearly referring to Beef.

Sami frowns, moving up into Kevin’s space, stopping when that disconcerting wary look creeps into Kevin’s eyes.

**_Why is he afraid of me?_ **

“Beef isn’t a moron. Please stop fighting,” Beef snorts behind Sami, and Kevin flips him off without breaking eye contact with Sami. Sami doesn’t need to turn around to see the answering raspberry, as the spit-soaked sound reverberates around the room just fine.

Sami sighs, stepping around Kevin and turning, offering a hand, unsure if, what with Kevin’s newfound hesitation around him, if his touch is welcome.

Which aches almost more than Sami can bear. That his touch might not be welcome to the most precious person to him. To what sometimes feels like the very _blood_ that flows through his veins.

-Always welcome-

Sami can’t argue with that at the moment, as almost as soon as he offers his palm, Kevin is snatching it up, dragging them down the hallway, squeezing the life from Sami’s fingers.

Wouldn’t have it any other way.

-careful what you wish for-

“It‘s dangerous to just take anyone up on their offers of rides. We've been over this, Sami. You can‘t just follow random people around.”

Kevin needs to work on his conversation skills. It makes no sense to say those things, when Kevin is the one leading Sami down the hallway from Sami‘s own apartment.

“You‘re not _just_ anyone, though. Your are Kevin, my dearest friend.”

And oh, that **_hurts_**.

For some strange reason, just saying those words makes Sami‘s heart throb with a pain that he barely recognizes.

And yet, it is a pain that feels oddly **familiar**.

“I’d follow **_you_ ** anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sami, boy, you gotta calm the fuck down. Kevin cannot deal with your shit right now. Or ever, to be honest.
> 
> For real though, can you believe how fucking sappy that was? Of course these two would get all fluffy after beating the shit out of each other in an overly graphic, far too intimate manner.
> 
> And poor fucking Beef. He is so goddamn not up for this shit. Sami is supposed to be the together one. Beef is not great at friend-ing, but he tries. He usually fails, but failure seems to be a theme in this series. Ug, I just made myself sad <3
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked it and have a good week!


End file.
